Disclaimer I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad you guys are liking it so far! Enjoy…

Last Time…

"Just stop. Stop trying to figure me out. Stop pretending you have me figured out!" She cried. After taking a pause her voice was soft and slow but stern, "Just. Stop."

She turned to try and escape the company of everyone, but was stopped when Troy grabbed her wrist. At the suddenly tight contact, she immediately pulled away violently, harsh memories returning.

"Brie" Troy whispered.

"Please" Gabriella begged quietly tears falling down her face. She turned to run off of the East High campus. When Troy tried to run after her Taylor pulled his back,

"Just let her go" She whispered remorsefully. Troy sighed. What was going on with her and how could he take away her pain?

Chapter Six – Confessions and Frustrations

Gabriella walked briskly down the sidewalk, trying to rid her mind the argument she'd just had. She was hurt, confused, sad and angry. She knew she probably shouldn't have lost her temper the way she did, but everything had just been building up inside of her and she needed to let out at least some of it. As she replayed the argument in her head, she managed to walk right past the front gates of East Elementary School.

Lily and Lucas sat together on the grass in front of the school, waiting contently for their sister. Just as Lily was explaining the mural she had worked on in art class to Lucas, out of the corner of his eye Lucas saw their older sister walking right by the school.

"Lily! Look" He swatted her arm, grabbing her attention.

"Is that Gabi?" Lily asked as her eyes followed Gabriella.

"It looks like her" Lucas said. "Let's go" he stood up and pulled Lily up as well before the two began to run to try and catch up with Gabriella.

They chased Gabriella down the street, until finally they caught up with her. Gabriella turned around to see her two siblings out of breath, standing in front of her. She immediately slammed her hand on her forehead,

"Oh my god! Guys, I'm so sorry I just – it's just been a hard day for me and I had a lot on my mind. I'm so so sorry." Gabriella babbled. Lily and Lucas smiled,

"It's ok Gabi. Don't worry about it" Lucas assured her. Gabriella smiled appreciatively,

"Thank you" she whispered. Lily studied Gabriella's face as the trio began to walk down the street together. It was blotchy and slightly red and puffy around the eyes. She could see a hint of glossiness in her eyes. Had her older sister been crying? It certainly looked like it.

"Gabi?" Lily asked softly, looking up at her.

"Yeah"

"What's wrong?"

Gabriella looked confused.

"You look sad" Lily clarified. Lucas looked up at his sister and joined in,

"Yeah, have you been crying?" he asked softly. Gabriella looked between her two younger siblings. At only 10 years old, they could still tell if something was wrong. She debated for a moment if she should tell them the truth. As she looked down at dark brown eyes of her brother and sister, she could feel a sense of hope, of love, of trust. These were the only people in world who she knew truly loved her, the only people who could say they have been through the same things she'd been through and the only people who knew her secrets. It was only fair that she tell them the truth.

"I got into a fight" Gabriella said quietly.

"What kind of fight?" Lucas asked defensively.

Gabriella took a deep breath. Here goes nothing,

"It was more of an argument…" Gabriella went on to explain the events of the day that led up to the altercation. All the while Lucas and Lily listened in silence as they watch their sister explain her story.

When Gabriella finished her tale, she had fresh tears building in her eyes, which she tried desperately to stop from flowing, as she didn't want her younger siblings to ever have to see her break down.

Lucas and Lily launched towards Gabriella, in the middle of the sidewalk, hugging her tightly. Although, they had both been very young when their mother left, they still felt the pain every day. Gabriella held her brother and sister close as the trio stood in the middle of the sidewalk comforting each other.

When the embrace ended, Lily was the first to speak,

"Gabi, can I tell you something?"

"Of course Lily, you can always tell me anything" Gabriella assured her.

"As much as I think your friends were completely wrong for assuming they knew about your life. I think that they did it because they had your best interest in mind. They must really care" Lily explained softly.

"I know" Gabriella admitted. "I just am afraid that they'll get too close and betray us. I can't let anything happen to you guys"

"I think we can speak for the both of us when I say that we just don't want you to be miserable and feel like you have to give your life up for us" Lucas explained quietly.

Gabriella squeezed Lucas and Lily's hands, "You guys mean the world to me. I am happy if you're happy" Gabriella whispered. Lily and Lucas smiled.

"We love you Gabi" The twins said in unison.

"I love you too" Gabriella said softly. For the rest of the journey home the three made small conversation, talking about their day at school among other things. Once they arrived home, Gabriella had to go out to work for the evening.

--

The next morning Gabriella made her way through the main hallway at East High. As always the hallway was crowded, with people randomly stopping in the middle of the hallway obstructing other students' pathways. Gabriella silently moved through the mass of people, until she came to her locker. Turning her lock, she quickly opened her locker and placed her bag on the ground, beginning to unpack it. Placing her books from the night before on the top shelf, she mentally kept a tally of the ones she needed.

Just then she felt a tap on her shoulder. Her hand flew up to her heart as she felt her heart rate speed up exponentially. Turning around, her eyes met Troy's deep blue ones.

"Oh, hi" she whispered meekly.

"Hey" Troy said softly. "So about yesterday…" Troy trailed off nervously.

"It doesn't matter" Gabriella said.

"I does matter Gabriella, what's going on with you is important to me" Troy tried to reason with her.

Gabriella shook her head, grabbing the final book she needed for her first period class.

"Don't worry about me." She said softly, shutting her locker. "I have to go anyway" Clutching her books to her chest, she walked past Troy.

As he watched Gabriella disappear into the masses of people, Troy felt helpless as he called out her name softly, knowing she wouldn't hear him. Troy let himself fall back against the locker, supporting his body. Frustrated, Troy let his head bang against the cool metal of locker, releasing some of the frustration. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair as he let out a groan.

Maybe if he gave her some space she would come around. Or at least he hoped so.

A/N: So I know that was shorter than the previous chapters, but it's mostly set up for future chapters and it seemed like a good place to stop. Please review! Thank you for reading!